1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to Internet electronic commerce and more particularly, to a method by which a buyer can execute a sale from an affiliate web site with a vendor through a hub server without leaving the web site, or reentering the user's payment and shipping information
2. Description of the Prior Art
Internet electronic commerce allows businesses to conduct sales transactions over the Internet between customers (buyers) and vendors supplying goods and services. On-line software enables product displays and credit card ordering for users who sign onto a web site maintained by a vendor. Secure credit card transactions have made the purchase of goods and services safe and simple. Typically, a buyer browses a vendor's site and chooses items that are placed in an electronic shopping cart when the buyer clicks on an icon for a featured product. When all selections have been made, the buyer clicks on a “check-out” icon. A first time buyer is required to supply credit card information and a ship to address by filling out an on-line form. Clicking on a submit button submits the information in the form for processing. After a credit check is complete, the buyer is informed on-screen that the items will be shipped to the address supplied and the credit card will be debited for the total amount of the sale. The buyer's information is stored at the vendor's site, so that for subsequent visits to the same site, the buyer does not have to fill out a form again. However, if the buyer visits a different vendor's web site, the information will have to be supplied again, and again for each different vendor's web site visited.
If a user chooses Amazon.com's Book Store, the query form for Amazon.com is put on-screen. Alternatively, an advertising banner for Amazon.com's Book Store may be displayed at another web site, such as the WebData™ site (www.webdata.com). Once a user chooses a banner and clicks, the user leaves the WebData™ site for Amazon.com's Book Store web site.
Once at the Amazon.com's Book Store web site, book purchases can be made by the conventional on-line shopping cart method described above or by a special Amazon.com feature called 1-Click™. With 1-Click™, a buyer on the Internet can place an order by clicking just one button at the Amazon.com web site. Those buyers who have never placed an order at Amazon.com simply use an “Add it to your Shopping Cart” button to place the first order, proceed to the checkout and use the standard ordering process to complete the order. 1-Click ordering is turned on after this first order, provided the order is placed using a credit card.
After this first order, it isn't necessary for the user to fill out an order form again. The site automatically references the buyer's account information stored at the site for shipping and billing information. All domestic 1-Click™ orders made within a 90-minute period are consolidated by availability.
The buyer's 1-Click™ settings, which include shipping address, shipping method, and payment information, are created when the buyer first uses a credit card to make an order with Amazon.com. The buyer can change, activate, or turn off 1-Click™ settings.
While 1-Click™ ordering offers easy, streamlined buying for users at the amazon.com web site, there is no mechanism by which potential buyers can place an order from another web site without first being transferred to the amazon.com web site.
It is desirable to have a way to consummate a sale of products or services of many different vendors displayed on a web page without the user leaving the web site upon which the buyer found the product or service advertised. Furthermore, the buyer information should be remembered so that any user can purchase any vendor's product from any affiliate's web site.